Victoria shoppers fund Jubilee hospital cardiac monitoring

Shoppers raised more than $41,000 for cardiac care on Vancouver Island during the holiday season.

The money went towards funding a new patient monitoring system for the surgical heart health and cardiovascular units at the Royal Jubilee Hospital. That system is already in place, and allows staff to monitor heart rates for multiple patients from a central hub, while responding to any patient-tailored alarms as they go off. The system also logs data, allowing for more efficient access when required.

President and CEO of Victoria Hospitals Foundation, Melanie Mahlman, says the monitors are just latest pieces of equipment funded through the campaign – it’s also funded cardiac ultrasounds, CT scanners and more.

“The fact that Canadian Tire store owners and their employees at the busiest time of the year choose to remember us and to ask their customers to help us out means everything,” Mahlman said. “The idea that one toonie or one loonie at a time has resulted in $840,000 talks about the power of what they’re doing.”

Canadian Tire’s Fix-A-Heart campaign ran from Nov. 22 to Dec. 24. During that period customers were prompted to make donations at the till, with stores also contributing to the campaign. The $41,445 raised this year brings the total earnings to $840,360 since the initiative was started in 2003. The goal is eventually reach $1,000,000.

All of the money raised in Victoria, stays in the community, Mahlman said.